Bill Parcells

Encyclopedia : B : BI : BIL : Bill Parcells

Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941 in Englewood, New Jersey), nicknamed "The Big Tuna", is an American football head coach for the Dallas Cowboys and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.

Parcells married his wife Judith in 1962. He is the father of three daughters named Suzy, Jill and Dallas. He divorced his wife after 40 years of marriage on January 16, 2002.

Contents

1 Early career
2 New York Giants
3 First retirement
4 New England Patriots
5 New York Jets
6 Dallas Cowboys
7 The Parcells' coaching tree
8 Miscellania

Early career

His football career began as a linebacker for Wichita State between 1961 to 1963. His assistant coaching jobs on the collegiate level were Hastings (1964), Wichita State (1965), Army (1966-69), Florida State University (1970-72), Vanderbilt (1973-74) and Texas Tech (1975-77). He was head coach at Air Force (1978).

New York Giants

In 1979, Parcells joined the New York Giants as the defensive coordinator under Ray Perkins. In 1980, he left to join the New England Patriots as the linebackers coach under Ron Erhardt for one year before returning to the Giants as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. When Perkins announced on December 15, 1982 that he was leaving the Giants at the end of the season to become head coach at the University of Alabama, the Giants announced that Parcells would succeed him as head coach.

When Parcells took over in 1983, the New York Giants were a team that had posted just one winning season in the previous ten years. In his first year, he made a controversial decision to bench Phil Simms in favor of Scott Brunner. The result was a disastrous 3-12-1 season in which the Giants seriously considered bringing in Howard Schnellenberger to replace Parcells.

After the dismal first season, Parcells made Simms the starter again. The team's record improved to 9-7 and 10-6 over the next two years and earned them their first back-to-back play-off appearances since 1961-1963. In 1986, he proceeded to take the New York Giants to the first of two Super Bowls. That year, the Giants compiled a franchise best 14-2 record and the first of three division titles. Parcells, along with a stifling 3-4 defense known as Big Blue led by Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Harry Carson, and Leonard Marshall, and an offense under the direction of Phil Simms, crushed the San Francisco 49ers, 49-3, and the Washington Redskins, 17-0, in the playoffs before routing the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI. Following the Super Bowl win, the Atlanta Falcons courted Parcells and attempted to make him their General Manager and Head Coach. Parcells opted to stay with the Giants.

Parcells led the Giants to a second Super Bowl in 1990. The Giants began the 1990 season 10-0, and finished 13-3, but lost Simms to injury late in the season. Playing with a back-up quaterback in Jeff Hostetler and a 33 year-old, veteran running back in Ottis Anderson, the Giants overcame the Chicago Bears in the divisional playoff, 31-3, and won in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion over San Francisco, 15-13, in the NFC Championship on a last-second 41-yard field goal by Matt Bahr which was set-up by a turnover caused by the great Giant Big Blue defense. Super Bowl XXV proved equally exciting as the Giants used tough defense and power running to stop the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, whose own last-second 47-yard field goal attempt by Scott Norwood sailed wide right. He retired from football after Super Bowl XXV due to health problems. This was considered to be Parcells' greatest victory, since the Giants were overcoming injuries and the Bills were considered to be nearly unstoppable that year. During his tenure, the Giants had secured three division titles (1986, 1989, 1990), had only two losing seasons (the Giants went 6-9 in 1987) and an 8-3 play-off record.

Parcells established a style while coaching the Giants he continued in his future coaching jobs. His teams featured a power running attack( i.e. Joe Morris, Curtis Martin et al), and an experienced quarterback not prone to mistakes, creating a ball control offense that maximised the team's time of possession. He tended towards experienced ball players who responded well to his disciplined style. His teams defensively were focused on the linebacker position and tried to play stingy, field position football.

His offensive strategy stood in contrast to the more wide open West Coast offense followed by another iconic 1980's coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers.

First retirement

Following retirement, Parcells would spend time as a football analyst for NBC Sports from 1991 - 1992. He worked as a studio commentator. He also hosted a local sports show in New York with Mike Francesa entitled Around the NFL.

In 1992 Parcells made a handshake agreement to become head coach of the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At the last minute, Parcells opted not to take the job. Parcells did not feel the situation was right for him at that time. Tampa Bay owner Hugh Culverhouse said, "I feel like I've been jilted at the altar."

New England Patriots

After a two-year hiatus, Parcells returned to the NFL in 1993 as the head coach for the struggling New England Patriots. Within two years, Parcells coached the team to a 10-6 record and its first playoff game in eight years. In 1996, he guided the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI but lost to the Green Bay Packers, 35-21, in New Orleans.

Parcells would leave the Patriots after a rift between himself and owner Robert Kraft developed. Parcells felt he did not have enough input into player personnel decisions. Parcells made a famous quote, "They want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries."

New York Jets

While Parcells would leave New England, his contract did not allow him to coach anywhere else. The New York Jets sought Parcells to take over their football operation after a 4-28 record under Rich Kotite. When the Jets and New England could not come to an initial agreement, Parcells' top assistant at the time - Bill Belichick became the head coach. Parcells then became a "consultant". The Commissioner's office did not like the arrangement and eventually brokered a settlement in which New England received four draft picks as compensation.

Parcells instrumented a remarkable turnaround in his first year with the Jets. In his first season with the Jets, the team barely missed the playoffs with a record of 8-8. In the 1998 football season, the Jets went to the playoffs with a 12-4 record but lost to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.

In 1999, expectations were high for the Jets to go to the Super Bowl. However, quarterback Vinny Testaverde would rupture his achilles tendon in the Jets home opener and the season would go downhill. After starting the season 1-6, the Jets won 3 straight and faced the Indianapolis Colts. Parcells emphasized the importance of not obtaining a "7th loss" but they did lose to the Colts and then to the New York Giants the following week. At 4-8, the Jets would have been in danger of finishing below .500. Remarkably, the Jets would finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs. In 1999, Bill Parcells retired from football again, vowing that he would not coach again. He would remain with the Jets one more year as the General Manager.

Dallas Cowboys

However, following three straight 5-11 losing seasons, Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones lured Bill Parcells out of retirement and made him the head coach in 2003. In his first season with the Cowboys, he led them to the playoffs with a 10-6 record, losing to the eventual NFC Champion Carolina Panthers in the opening round. Bill Parcells is the first head coach in the history of the NFL to guide four different teams to the playoffs. However, the 2004 season was one of turmoil. Injuries and persistent penalty problems hobbled the Cowboys, but a preseason quarterback controversy also caused trouble when Quincy Carter was suddenly terminated for alleged drug use in favor of 40-year-old veteran Vinny Testaverde, brought to the Cowboys from the New York Jets by his former coach in the off-season. The Cowboys started strong, with victories against the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins, but quickly fell off to a 3-5 record by midseason, finishing the season 6-10. After this poor season, Parcells received considerable criticism from the local media.

The Cowboys improved their defense before the 2005-2006 season with the additions of first round draft picks Demarcus Ware and Marcus Spears. Parcells drafted these two in the hopes of jumpstarting the team's transition from the traditional 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense, which he believes favors the talents (power over speed and athleticism) of the current lineup. Jerry Jones also added a number of savvy veteran players, acquiring nose tackle Jason Ferguson and cornerback Anthony Henry via free agency, and linebacker Scott Fujita via the Kansas City Chiefs. On offense, the Cowboys felt the need to upgrade their passing game to complement their top 2004 draft pick, running back Julius Jones, and acquiring quarterback Drew Bledsoe via free agency. During his tenure, Parcells has made a point of signing players that have played for him in the past, including Bledsoe and Terry Glenn (with the Patriots), cornerback Aaron Glenn, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and as fullback Richie Anderson (all with the Jets; Anderson is no longer with the Cowboys). In 2005, the Cowboys went 9-7, missing the playoffs by one game.

In 2006 the Cowboys signed controversial former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens. Keyshawn Johnson was released and signed with the Carolina Panthers. This may pose Parcells' greatest coaching challenge, although he maximised the talent of other controversial players such as Johnson and Lawrence Taylor. In the 2006 NFL Draft he selected players thought to be suited to his blue collar football philosophy, Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter (son of a Giant fullback in the 1980's) and University of Notre Dame tight end Anthony Fasano.

The Parcells' coaching tree

Parcells has also had extraordinary success in grooming his assistant coaches for eventual head coaching positions of their own. As of 2006, former Parcells assistants who are currently head coaches in either the NFL or the college ranks include:

In addition, Parcells disciples Ray Handley and Chris Palmer were also head coaches with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, respectively, at one time.

Miscellania

Parcells is very superstitious. He never picks up a penny with the tail side up because he believes picking it up would bring bad luck. When he had Harry Carson as a player with the Giants, he would have him at his side during the singing of the national anthem to have good luck.

Parcells was the first coach in Football history to be the recipient of the Gatorade Bath. As the Giants went on a winning streak during their 1986 Super Bowl run, the team would dump a Gatorade bucket of ice water over Parcells' head. This is a tradition that is now common practice in high school, college, and professional football.

It is a Parcells tradition that each year, the first draft pick for that year fetches water for him during training camp and practice, purportedly as a way to keep the player's ego from getting too big.

Parcells has coached in a Super Bowl in the last two decades (Super Bowl XXI, Super Bowl XXV, & Super Bowl XXXI).

Parcells has a remarkable 50-1 record when entering the fourth quarter with a lead of 11 points or more in his head coaching career. His one loss came from the Washington Redskins. The Redskins made an amazing comeback on national television, coming back from a 13-0 deficit to beat the cowboys 14-13.

Parcells earned the nickname "The Big Tuna" when he responded to a bogus statement from a player with the incredulous "Who do you think I am? Charlie the Tuna?" The "Big" portion should be self-explanatory.

|- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;"

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.